This paper compares the perceptions of school principals with those of novice teachers on the competence of such newly qualified members of staff. Findings suggest that the school principals and the novices both had similar perceptions regarding the satisfactory performance of the novices, although the novices tended to rate their own performance…

Research on new teachers identifies two critical challenges in relation to how novices view their students: practice shock that results in an over focus on controlling students and a cultural mismatch that causes novices to see diversity as a problem. This article explores how mentoring strategies intervene at this critical phase, influencing…

The pros in question are the students--professionals in the art of maneuvering the teacher. In entertaining style, the author conveys the importance of student-centered learning activities. Planning for active student participation counters the various student inactivity strategies; avoiding lectures and developing the art of asking questions…

This study evaluated the performance of beginning teachers who graduated from an urban regional state university. The strengths and weaknesses of the beginning teachers are compared across groups of individuals and through the use of different types of data-gathering procedures. The results of the performance of a sample of beginning teachers on…

A year-long teacher induction program was implemented in four inner-city parochial schools in the archdiocese of Chicago (Illinois). The program had three objectives: to provide new, first-year, and returning teachers with classroom organization and management techniques; to encourage the teachers to develop a support system for themselves; and to…

This handbook addresses the concerns and needs of beginning teachers in the sequence in which they often arise. The first two sections offer a checklist of things to attend to before the beginning of school, tips on the physical and visual classroom environment, a supplies checklist, and suggestions ranging from organizing the classroom and making…

Intended for beginning teachers in Virginia, this handbook is designed to serve as a guide for negotiating the first few years of teaching. The concept of teacher as problem solver is promoted throughout the manual. The handbook is organized around the idea that the beginning teacher's main tasks are to: (1) discover how to learn from their own…

Indicates the differences between preteachers' and experienced teachers' cognitive schemes for classroom management. Experienced teachers reported using more pro and antisocial strategies than did prospective teachers. Both relied on antisocial techniques for active misbehaviors and prosocial for passive. (JK)

Suggests how administrators of small rural schools can help beginning/inexperienced teachers prepare for the beginning of the school year. Recommends resources offering suggestions for new teachers in the areas of getting acquainted, classroom environment, procedures and routines, and preparation and planning. (NEC)

This CD-ROM presents four videos that feature veteran elementary and middle school teachers in action in their classrooms. Each video offers links to supplemental education resources, including innovative lesson plans. The four videos are: "Cinderella: A New Teacher's Tale" (Tracey Stober), which introduces the Teachers Network's Online Survival…

A music teacher talks about the hard lessons he learned in his first year of teaching in a small, rural, elementary and secondary school. Student discipline problems, poor class attendance, exhaustion, and problems with parents reduced his initial idealism and optimism. (RM)

Summarizes the results of a study which identified discipline problems in fifty vocational agriculture classes of student teachers and beginning teachers. Reviews effective and ineffective ways to handle discipline problems in the classroom. (LRA)

A survey of 205 special education teachers investigated how lesson plans were developed, what components were included, and what recommendations they had for beginning teachers. Results indicated the majority did not write out their lesson plans but recommended that beginning teachers write out lesson plans. (CR)

Helping preservice and beginning teachers develop social insight or "withitness" remains a critical challenge for teacher educators. Secondary students are particularly critical of teachers lacking these qualities. Student teachers' insight-developing strategies include exposing themselves to adolescent culture, affirming students'"weather,"…

Qualitative differences between 24 expert teachers and 24 novice teachers in think-aloud protocols related to solving classroom discipline problems were investigated. Results suggest that expert teachers have procedural plans for solving discipline problems and are able to put more attention into defining the problem than are novice teachers. (SLD)